The Juiciest Quotes From Lance Armstrong’s Interview With Oprah
Thursday night, part one of Oprah Winfrey's interview with cyclist Lance Armstrong aired. Oprah, as is her style, got right to the point, and Armstrong, we guess to his credit, answered her directly.
Buzzfeed edited together the parts of the interview they thought would be most interesting to anyone who didn't feel like sitting through the rather long exchange between Oprah and Armstrong. And for those of you who would rather simply read it, we put together a collection of the choicest quotes from the interview:
Oprah WInfrey: Did you ever take banned substances to enhance your cycling performances?
Lance Armstrong: “Yes.”
Was one of those banned substances EPO?
“Yes.”
Did you ever blood dope or use blood transfusions to enhance your cycling performance?
“Yes.”
Did you ever use any other banned substances like testosterone, cortisone or human growth hormone?
“Yes.”
In all seven of your Tour de France victories, did you ever take banned substances or blood dope?
“Yes.”
“I view this situation as one big lie that I repeated a lot of times.”
Did you feel that you were cheating?
“No. ... I kept hearing I’m a drug cheat, I’m a cheat, I’m a cheater. And I went and looked up the definition of cheat. And the definition of cheat is to gain an advantage on a rival or a foe that they don’t have. I didn’t view it that way. I viewed it as a level playing field.”
“The proof that they say that I doped after my comeback is not true. The last time I crossed the line, that line, was 2005."
Were you a bully?
“Yeah.”
[Video at Buzzfeed.]